White House Homeland Security Adviser Frances Townsend revealed her assessment of Libyan strongman Colonel Gadhafi. She based it on her visit with Gadhafi at his Tripoli compound:
"It's all about thuggery there," said TownsendSo Fran knew this as a member of the Bush White House? Courting the Libyan thug were:
Why did they allow the Libyan Investment Authority to invest in Carlyle Group funds if the Bush White House knew Gadhafi was a thug? Instead these people legitimized Gadhafi for the world community.Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein traveled to Libya in 2006.
Homeland Security Adviser Frances Townsend visited Gadhafi in the summer of 2007
Saif Gadhafi flew to New York in 2007 to meet with Frank Carlucci
The Bush administration put a full court press on Gadhafi's son Saif in 2008
The Carlyle Group hosted a dinner in Saif's honor during the 2008 visit with James A. Baker, III and Frank Carlucci in attendance.
The Carlyle Group was one of the first to receive money from the Libyan Investment Authority, established in 2006.
David Rubenstein and fellow PEU Stephen Schwarzman flew to Tripoli for the wedding of LIA's Deputy Chief Executive in 2009.
Senator John McCain tweeted from the Gahdafi Ranch in 2009
Townsend advised George W. Bush and Barack Obama as a member of the Presidential Intelligence Advisory Board. Did Fran forget Gadhafi was a thug between her 2007 visit and her 2008 appointment to the PIAB?
Fran danced with The Carlyle Group before Libya. She omitted a Carlyle affiliate from her hapless Hurricane Katrina Lessons Learned report. LifeCare Hospitals lost 25 patients in Katrina's horrific aftermath. LifeCare had a Long Term Acute Care Unit inside Memorial Medical Center, which also got no mention. Between the two corporate entities, 35 people died. Oddly, a year after Fran's Katrina whitewash was foisted on the public, Jeb Bush landed a spot on Tenet Healthcare's board of directors. Tenet owned Memorial Medical Center when Katrina struck.
After leaving the White House Fran consulted on risk management and government investigations for James A. Baker, III's law firm. Baker helped host the 2008 visit for Saif Gadhafi. Fran was appointed Senior Advisor at Monument Capital, where Baker, Frank Carlucci and Mac McLarty serve on Monument's "hands on" advisory board. Fran is now Senior Vice President for Worldwide Government, Legal and Business Affairs at MacAndrews & Forbes.
Consider two Fran Townsend quotes:
"Any commercial or economic crisis creates business opportunity."
Overall, Townsend called it "an absolutely bizarre experience ... like a bad movie."
I couldn't agree more What's she spinning now and for whom?
Update 4-9-11: ForeignPolicy has a priceless Townsend story, courtesy of WikiLeaks. It involves another Middle East strongman, Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Also, McClatchy summarized WikiLeak cables regarding George W. Bush and Barack Obama's outreach to Libya's Gadhafi.
Update 6-19-11: Fran submitted an article on corporate interests harming America's security relative to Iran and North Korea. One minute she's on the corporate side, the next she's not. Townsend can read from any script.
Update 7-1-11: The media continues offering small fries as sacrificial lambs in the West's efforts to open up Libya. The big boys skate under the radar.
